


Espeon's Matchmaking Service

by megs_sp



Category: Haikyuu!!, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, M/M, Pokemon, Pokemon References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23993515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megs_sp/pseuds/megs_sp
Summary: Osamu always said that basing all his relationships off his Espeon's intuition was going to get Atsumu in trouble some day, but it had worked out pretty well for him so far.Case in point: the hot Dragon Master currently helping him train his Charmeleon.
Relationships: Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi
Comments: 30
Kudos: 214





	Espeon's Matchmaking Service

Atsumu’s Espeon butted against his leg and mewed plaintively, pinning him with an expectant look when he turned his attention towards her. He bent down obligingly so she could hop up onto his shoulder, steadying her with a hand as he straightened back up.

Osamu was already across the field, consoling the defeated trainer. They had agreed that it was better for him to do the talking when they won fairly quickly after they took over as Mossdeep City’s gym leaders. Atsumu had a bad habit of offering them advice, which combined with his lack of tact tended to come off as insulting. Within a few months the Hoenn Champion had received several complaints, they had received a stern talking to, and Atsumu was instructed to keep his mouth shut unless he was reciting the pre-approved congratulatory speech.

He could feel Espeon’s fur bristle where it was pressed against his neck, and his stomach sank. Both her and Osamu’s Umbreon swiveled their heads towards the observation deck overlooking the battlefield. A few moments later a burst of flame filled the room.

Thankfully it was put out by a wave of water, and shortly after Suna moved into view and glared down at Atsumu.

He waved sheepishly and muttered softly to Espeon, “Let’s hope he didn’t damage anything expensive this time, darlin’.”

She mewed in response and he reluctantly made his way towards the stairs. He heard Osamu moving to follow behind him and he didn’t need Espeon’s foresight to know that his brother was laughing.

Suna was standing at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed. And as if that wasn’t intimidating enough his Blastoise had mimicked his position a few steps behind him. Atsumu couldn’t decide which one was scarier in that moment.

“Hey Suna. Yer lookin’ cheerful.”

The other trainer ignored him and called back to Osamu. “You’re lucky I’m here or you’d need a new gym.”

Atsumu slipped around the pair when he reached the top and found that the observation room had been flooded. There was about a foot of water slowly draining out of the room and down the stairs. His Charmeleon, the catalyst for the disaster, had taken refuge on top of one of the couches. It seemed that he had been unable to escape the initial blast of what Atsumu assumed was a low-powered surf, as he was looking decidedly damp and quite displeased about it.

Atsumu waded his way over to his Pokémon, moving slowly through the water so Espeon wouldn’t get dislodged. He knew from experience that she would make his life a misery if he got her wet unnecessarily. She hated water to the point that she refused to battle water type specialists unless everyone else in his party had fainted.

Charmeleon refused to look up at him, sitting with his arms crossed protectively over his tail flame. A quick glance revealed that it was still burning healthily, and that the only injury was to his pride.

Atsumu sighed. “Char we’ve talked about this. I know ya want to battle but ya can’t be setting things on fire any time ya watch.”

Charmeleon glared up at him mulishly. ‘Then why don’t you let me battle’ his eyes seemed to say.

Atsumu crossed his arms over his chest and locked gazes with his stubborn Pokémon, neither of them willing to back down.

“Sumu, ya need to keep him in his pokeball during battles. And find a Pokémon that can use surf if yer gonna keep bringing back fire types.” Charmeleon turned his glare onto Osamu, huffing out sparks.

Atsumu snapped to get his Pokémon’s attention. “Uh-uh Char. He’s right. I know ya don’t wanna be in yer ball but I can’t keep ya up here if ya can’t keep it under control.” Charmeleon huffed in response and Atsumu never thought he’d be tempted to strangle one of his beloved Pokémon but here they were. “C’mon Char. I take ya out onto the Routes to battle every day I can.”

‘Those aren’t the same as gym battles.’ Atsumu could read in the flick of his Pokémon’s tail.

He sighed. Nothing he could say was going to get through at this point. He unclipped Charmeleon’s pokeball and held it out. “Alright. Ya wanna ride back to the house in yer ball, or are ya gonna be stubborn and walk through this water?” He could see his Pokémon considering it and let out a sigh of relief when the stubborn creature finally pressed his nose against the activation switch.

Atsumu trudged back to where Suna and Osamu were watching from the doorway, nodding to Blastoise as he passed. “Thanks bud.” He turned to Suna reluctantly. “Thanks, for handling that.”

Suna nodded once in response before giving him a considering look. “Have you thought about taking him to a specialist?”

Atsumu shrugged helplessly. “Not really one of those on the island. I mean, I’ve talked to Norimune in Lavaridge and Iwaizumi in Cinnabar on the phone, but neither of them have ever raised a Charmeleon. It’s not a fire type thing, more to do with the Pokémon. Unless it’s a dragon type thing.”

Suna made a soft sound in agreement and Osamu sighed. “I dunno why ya decided ya wanted to raise fire types as a psychic type gym leader in Mossdeep of all places.”

Atsumu frowned and opened his mouth to respond, but decided it wasn’t worth rehashing the argument.

Suna and Osamu led the way down the stairs, and he followed a step behind them as they left the gym and headed towards the small attached house. Suna was telling Osamu about the latest challengers at his gym in Sootopolis, all of which had made it through Osamu and Atsumu at the Mossdeep City Gym at some point in the last year or so.

Atsumu frowned at the thought. Although he loved his psychic types – the ever faithful Alakazam and Espeon that he had raised from a tiny Abra and even tinier Eevee – they didn’t like battles. Oh they were wonderful at it, but they did it out of their love for him, not because they truly liked it. But he and Osamu ran a psychic type gym, and none of his fire types outside of his Galarian Rapidash could use any psychic moves.

His fire types, on the other hand, loved to battle. Ninetails, Flareon, and especially Charmeleon were exceedingly jealous that Rapidash got to battle in the gym. But while Ninetails and Flareon were content with his bribes of homecooked pokeblocks and frequent trips to battle on the nearby routes, Charmeleon grew more and more discontented by the day.

It was, Atsumu knew, because Charmeleon got excited by the prospect of strong opponents. And there were plenty coming for their seventh badge in Mossdeep City. That he couldn’t battle frustrated him to no end, and he was prone to letting out excited bursts of flame whenever he watched. Atsumu knew he should just keep Charmeleon in his ball whenever challengers came to call, but he couldn’t stand to keep his friends inside more than absolutely necessary. He just needed to figure out how to stop Charmeleon from setting his gym on fire.

“Did you hear about Fortree?”

Atsumu brought his attention back to Osamu and Suna to see them both staring at him expectantly.

“Fortree? No, what about it?”

“Winona decided to retire. She’s handing over the reigns to the gym.” Suna responded.

Atsumu could see Osamu come to the same conclusion as him. “The gym’s got to be closed a few months while they transition.”

Suna nodded. “I talked to her yesterday, and I guess they’ve been low on challengers the last few months so she figured it was a good time for it. I got the list of people eligible to challenge here from her.”

Atsumu clapped his hands excitedly. Once all the eligible challengers had gotten their Mind Badges from he and Osamu they could close down the gym until Fortree opened back up. After all, with that gym closed nobody else would be eligible to challenge at Mossdeep. Atsumu could tell Suna was eager to figure out how many trainers he could expect at Sootopolis. If it was a small number the other gym leader may be able to scrape out a couple weeks of vacation.

After a review of the list and a quick call to Winona, they figured out only two trainers with the Feather Badge had yet to win against Atsumu and Osamu. The first was the trainer they had defeated earlier that day, but he was strong and would probably win the next time he challenged so long as he and his Pokémon prepared appropriately. The other had just left Fortree a few days ago, which meant they could expect them in about a week – perhaps two if they stayed for an extended period in Lilycove.

Atsumu clapped his hands together excitedly. “So we’re looking at two months of vacation minimum.”

Osamu looked at his brother knowingly. “Ya finally gonna take that trip.”

Atsumu nodded excitedly. “Ya know it!”

“Well I don’t know it. What trip are we talking about?” Suna asked.

“Sumu’s been wanting to take his Pokémon to that battle tower in Johto for ages, but we could never close the gym for long enough.”

A thoughtful look passed over Suna’s face. “If you’re going to be in Johto, you should take Charmeleon to Blackthorn City.”

Atsumu looked up. “To the Dragon’s Den?”

“I suppose.” Suna responded. “I was thinking more to the gym there. The leader is a Dragon Master. The trainers in the Dragon’s Den could help you, but you’d need the Gym Leader’s permission to enter anyway.”

“Ya should do it, Sumu. Get ya out of my hair for a little while.”

Atsumu scowled at his brother, before focusing back on Suna. “Do you know the Blackthorn gym leader?”

“No,” Suna shook his head, “but it shouldn’t be too hard to find out. I’ll call around and see if anyone knows him.”

What ensued was an extremely convoluted game of telephone. Atsumu, through Suna, made a call to Oikawa at the Cerulean City Gym in Kanto, who transferred them to Sugawara in Celadon City, who passed them on to Kuroo at the Goldenrod City Gym, who was friends with Bokuto in Violet City, who was dating the Gym Leader in Olivine City, Akaashi, who worked closely with Mahogany Town’s Gym Leader Komori, who was best friends with the Gym Leader in Blackthorn City. It took the better part of three weeks to arrange for Atsumu to spend his vacation in Blackthorn – with a week at the end to go to the Battle Tower. Most of the arrangements were made through Komori, who insisted that it would be better if he relayed everything.

So three weeks later, after they had closed up the gym, Atsumu departed for Blackthorn City without ever talking to Sakusa Kiyoomi.

As such, Atsumu had no clue who he was looking for when he touched down outside the nearest Pokémon center. They had arranged for the Dragon Master to meet him when he arrived, but Atsumu and his faithful Swellow had made good time and were two hours early. He figured he could wait it out, but it only took about fifteen minutes for Nurse Joy to check over Swellow, and waiting was never his strong suit.

He meant to explore the city until the meeting time, but Blackthorn was fairly small and his wanderings soon brought him to the gym. The outside was understated compared to Mossdeep’s, with the appearance of a classic mansion. It backed up to a shining blue lake, and if he squinted he could just make out the entrance to the Dragon’s Den.

Atsumu started sweating the second he entered the gym, despite the fact that outside it had been pleasantly cool, especially in the shade of the mountains. The culprit was obvious once he stepped further in. The paths through the gym were made of hardened volcanic rock, and around them were bubbling pools of lava.

The pathways were raised several feet and sported guardrails, but Atsumu grimaced at the thought of misplacing a step, and how much this poor gym leader paid in insurance every month. The most he and Osamu had to do was keep a nurse on staff in case anyone got overly dizzy from the warp tiles – occasionally people got whiplash or hurt themselves tripping over their feet – but he knew it was nothing compared to what Suna paid. The ice floors in the Sootopolis Gym were treacherous; Atsumu had bruised his knees – and his pride – more times than he could count. But it was prohibitively expensive to renovate, and it fit the theming, so the ice floors stayed. Presumably that was also why the lava stayed – or the gym leader had a flair for dramatics that outweighed his concern for gym expenditures.

Atsumu turned to the gym trainer hovering nearby, clearly waiting to check his badges. Instead he pulled out his Trainer ID, making sure it was the recent one that had his gym leader status and the ID photo where he wasn’t twelve.

“Hey, I’m Miya Atsumu. I was supposed to meet Sakusa, Gym Leader Sakusa, in a couple of hours but I got in early. Think I could see him?”

The trainer looked over his ID suspiciously before unhooking a Pokegear from his belt and making a call. It was a heavy looking device, definitely more for functionality than aesthetics, and Atsumu figured it was probably built to withstand the heat. He had a sinking feeling he’d be buying a new Pokenav soon.

The trainer hung up his pokegear and returned his ID. “You’re good to go. Just follow the pathways, the trainers won’t stop you. And try to stay in the middle.”

Atsumu gave the trainer a cheery salute, receiving a scowl in return, and carefully made his way along the platforms. He was suddenly glad he had kept Espeon in her pokeball instead of letting her out to ride on his shoulder like he usually did. She, like all of her breed, was extremely sensitive to atmospheric changes. It allowed her to predict the weather and to some extent her opponent’s moves in battle, but also made her exceedingly irritable in extreme conditions.

The gym puzzle turned out to be manipulating several platforms to move across the lava, which was made easier by the gym trainers telling him where to direct them instead of trying to battle him. The gym leader wasn’t on his platform, but as he looked around he noticed a small door set into the wall. He went over and knocked, opening it when a soft voice called for him to come in.

The room he stepped into was marginally cooler than the rest of the gym, but still far hotter than Atsumu was used to. He was drenched in sweat, his t-shirt sticking to his back uncomfortably, and he desperately hoped he’d put deodorant on that morning because he couldn’t remember if he had.

The man sitting at a small desk in the corner of the room, on the other hand, looked like he could barely feel the heat. His skin was pale and smooth, with no hint of a flush. He was even wearing tight fitting jeans and a heavy leather jacket over a tight-fitting t-shirt.

The massive Altaria curled around the desk – and presumably her trainer – lifted her head and trilled sweetly at Atsumu in greeting. He smiled at her and waved, wanting to pet her soft looking feathers and offer her a pokeblock from his bag, but unwilling to do so without her trainer’s permission.

The trainer stepped over his Pokémon carefully, idly stroking her head as he passed by, before coming to a stop in front of Atsumu. “You must be Miya.”

“Uh, you can call me Atsumu. Miya gets kinda confusing with the whole twin thing.” He stuck out a hand in greeting, but the other man didn’t move to take it. He slowly retracted it, trying to discreetly wipe the sweat off on his shorts. “Yer Sakusa, I’m guessing.”

The other man inclined his head. “Yes. Welcome to Blackthorn City. I wasn’t expecting you until later.” He sounded vaguely annoyed.

“Um yeah. We made good time, caught a friendly wind on our way out of Mossdeep. I was gonna call ahead but I realized we’d managed to arrange this whole thing without ever exchanging numbers.” Atsumu laughed awkwardly, smiling at Sakusa, but the other man only nodded in agreement.

“Would you like me to show you to your lodging so you can,” he grimaced, “clean up?”

Atsumu was suddenly all too aware of the dust still on his clothes from a long flight, and the sweat coating him from head to toe. “Um, yeah, that would be great.”

Sakusa nodded sharply and led him out a backdoor, whistling a short series of notes to his Altaria. She repeated them back before following them out, coming to stand next to Atsumu while her trainer locked the door behind them. She was large for an Altaria, her head at eye level with him while she was still on the ground, and she trilled at him again while they waited.

“She wants you to pet her.”

Atsumu took that as permission and eagerly reached out to stroke her neck. The Pokémon hummed, a melodic sound, before butting her head against Atsumu’s. He laughed as the force made him stumble back and crooned at her. “Yer such a sweet girl. What a pretty voice.” The Altaria hummed again, louder this time, and flapped her wings excitedly.

Atsumu turned to see Sakusa giving him a searching look, before the trainer let out another series of notes, different this time. Altaria repeated them back again before taking off, soaring with startling speed across the lake towards the entrance to the Dragon’s Den.

Sakusa started walking without waiting, and Atsumu jogged to catch up. He sighed happily as a breeze rushed past him, pleasantly cool on his flushed skin.

“That lava must be a pain to keep up.”

Sakusa turned to look at him and nodded slowly. “The insurance is an annoyance.”

Atsumu winced in sympathy. “I can’t imagine working in that heat constantly.”

The other gym leader shrugged. “You get used to it, especially when you grow up here. And many of the dragon types enjoy it.”

“I bet Char would love it. I should let him out next time I’m there.”

“Char is your Charmeleon, yes?”

“Yep.”

Sakusa nodded. “He would likely enjoy it. My Charizard does.”

“Ya have a Charizard? I didn’t know that, Omi!”

The other trainer stiffened, his eyes narrowing. “What did you just call me?”

Atsumu frowned. “Omi? It’s a nickname. Your name’s Kiyoomi, right? I think it suits ya.”

Sakusa nodded slowly. “Yes, but I would prefer if you referred to me as Sakusa.”

“I will take that into consideration, Omi.” Atsumu winked teasingly, enjoying the way Sakusa’s passive mask finally broke.

The Dragon Master looked as if he would gladly let his Charizard unleash a flamethrower onto Atsumu but changed the subject. “Yes, I have a Charizard. I had assumed that’s why you asked me for help.”

Atsumu shrugged. “I asked cuz yer a Dragon Master. Figured you’d know about ‘em even if ya didn’t have one.”

“Charizard isn’t a dragon type Pokémon.” Sakusa looked amused as Atsumu flushed and tried to stammer out an explanation. He waited a few moments before taking pity on him. “However, they are close enough. We have a small pack living in the Den.”

Sakusa saved him from having to answer by gesturing for him to enter the small house they had stopped in front of. Atsumu carefully toed off his shoes and took the proffered slippers – brand new from the looks of them. The front hallway opened into a cozy living room with a small kitchen attached in the corner. The dark wood furniture and rustic finishes matched the aesthetic of the rest of the city, but there were small personal touches in the small vases of wildflowers on the kitchen table, books stuffed into a series of shelves, and worn quilt thrown haphazardly onto the window seat next to a novel in a cozy reading nook. The house was clearly well kept, tidy and freshly cleaned.

Upstairs a small hallway branched off into two rooms, connected by a bathroom. Sakusa led him to the second one, and Atsumu immediately dropped his bag and rushed to the doors that opened onto a shared balcony overlooking the lake. There was a clear view of the mountains and the entrance to the Den, and the half empty mug and scattered papers lying on a small table told him that Sakusa spent a good amount of time out here.

Sakusa followed him onto the balcony and retrieved the mug, straightening the papers before turning to go back inside. “There are towels under the cupboard in the bathroom. I would ask that you spray down the shower with the cleaning solution in the red spray bottle when you’re done.”

Atsumu nodded and turned back to stare at the view. He could hear Sakusa leave and go back downstairs, the sound of the faucet letting him know that the other man was probably washing his mug. He allowed himself a few more minutes on the balcony before he retreated into the bathroom.

It was just as neat and orderly as the rest of the house, with an army of products carefully arranged on the shelves. He resolved to buy a shower tote to carry back and forth from the bedroom so he wouldn’t ruin Sakusa’s organization.

Atsumu sprayed down the shower with the red spray bottle and dried himself off on the shower mat so he didn’t drip all over the tile. He contemplated using the hairdryer resting in a stand on the counter, but it looked expensive and he didn’t know how to detach the strange dinner-plate-with-prongs looking attachment, so he resigned himself to wet hair. This was what he got for always using Osamu’s instead of buying his own – and not stealing it to take with him.

He quickly threw on a hoodie and shorts, with a tank top underneath in case they ended up at the gym again, and wandered downstairs to look for Sakusa.

He was sitting at the small kitchen table flipping through a stack of papers. He’d taken off the leather jacket and the t-shirt he was wearing stretched across his chest and strained around his biceps in a way Atsumu tried very hard not to think about. He glanced up when the other trainer wandered in and set his papers to the side.

“We can go to the Den now, or we can grab something to eat. But if we do that the Den will probably have to wait until the morning.”

Atsumu’s stomach growled and he opened his mouth to agree to dinner, but then he thought about his Pokémon who had been cooped up in their pokeballs all day and changed his mind.

“Let’s do the Den first.” He stopped and considered. “Is the Den as hot as the gym?”

Sakusa made a see-sawing motion with his hand. “Depends. It is in some places, particularly the deeper areas. Definitely in the back where my Charizard likes to sleep. The front is milder.”

“Then do you mind if I let my Espeon out in here? She’s been in her ball all day, but she doesn’t like extreme temperatures. She’ll stay up in the bedroom.”

Sakusa’s eyes softened at the mention of the Pokémon. “That’s fine.”

Atsumu quickly unclipped her Pokeball and released her. She glared at him before pointedly looking away, haughtily ignoring him. He chuckled at her and she flicked her tail at him before noticing Sakusa. She cautiously approached him, circling his chair at a distance. He held his hand out for her to sniff at but didn’t try to pet her when she crept in closer. She sniffed delicately at his hand before pressing up into it. He scratched gently under her chin and she purred softly. Atsumu could see the bunching of her hind legs, but before he could call out to tell her to stop she leapt up onto Sakusa’s lap and scaled his arm to perch on his shoulder.

Atsumu stared in disbelief as his Espeon nuzzled into Sakusa’s hair, startling a laugh out of the other gym leader. She was notorious among the elite trainers in Hoenn for being snooty. It often took weeks for her to warm up to someone enough to let them pet her, and he could count on one hand the people she liked enough to sit in their laps. Aran, the gym leader in Rustboro City, had known them since she was an Eevee and she had only deigned to sit on his lap for the first time two months prior. The only other person she trusted enough to sit on their shoulder was Osamu, although she often took it a step further and climbed onto his head to annoy him by swinging her tail in his face.

And here she was, perched on Sakusa Kiyoomi’s shoulder and nuzzling her cheek against his, purring when he reached up to pet her.

Atsumu trusted Espeon’s judgement explicitly. He had learned early on that she was an excellent judge of character, even before she had evolved and gained her psychic abilities. In his youth he had been far too trusting, and it had quickly become obvious that he was better off taking cues from Espeon about people’s intentions rather than relying on his own intuition. Osamu often said that he took this strategy too far, and that completely discarding people from his life because of her first impressions was absurd. But it had worked for him thus far.

So he decided right then and there that he was going to marry Sakusa Kiyoomi.

Never mind that they both had demanding jobs in not just different towns, but in entirely different regions. Never mind that he had never even heard of the other man until three weeks ago. Never mind that they had only known each other an hour.

Miya Atsumu was going to marry Sakusa Kiyoomi.

The Dragon Master was entirely unaware that the strange Hoenn gym leader he had invited into his house was currently planning their wedding. All he knew was that the man had a gorgeous Espeon that was very reluctant to leave his shoulder, and a misbehaving Charmeleon.

“Alright, sweetheart. We have to go now. You can stay here.” He gently plucked her off his shoulder and set her back on the floor, standing up and grabbing his jacket.

Atsumu snapped out of his daydream – they were going to have a small ceremony on the lake with Altaria humming the music – and motioned for Espeon to stay put when she made to spring up onto his shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at him and he backed away, knowing from experience that if he stayed in range she wouldn’t hesitate to leap as high as she could and gouge holes into his clothes as she climbed her way up.

“We’re going to the Den. It’s hot as hell there, wouldn’t you rather stay here?” She looked at him suspiciously before accepting his reasoning. She pranced over to the window seat and leapt onto it, making a nest for herself in the quilt and laying down.

Atsumu could see her dozing off in the weak sunlight streaming through the window as they toed on their shoes – grimacing as he compared his cheap flip-flops to Sakusa’s steel-toed boots. He assumed the leather was for protection against stray dragon type attacks, and his own wardrobe was sorely lacking.

He followed Sakusa out to the edge of the lake and contemplated his team. Despite living in Mossdeep he didn’t have any water types in his party – a fact Suna constantly complained about – preferring to fly most places. Next to him Sakusa let out a piercing whistle, and he could see something start to move in the distance. What started as a small dot on the far edge of the lake quickly grew larger until Atsumu could make out a Dragonite speeding towards them. It reached them in record time, circling above them a few times to slow down before landing next to Sakusa.

Atsumu stared with wide eyes as Sakusa pet the Dragonite, standing his ground when the large Pokémon headbutted him playfully. It was one thing to know that Dragonite was able to fly faster than the speed of sound, and at one point was thought to be the fastest Pokémon in existence, and another to see that speed in action. Atsumu resolved to never let his Rapidash out near the Dragonite. She, like all of her kind, had a need to be the fastest Pokémon in any given room and would race anything. She hadn’t lost in years and he didn’t want to know how she’d react when this Dragonite smoked her.

Sakusa whispered something to his Pokémon before turning to Atsumu. “Do you need a ride? Dragonite can take you if your flyer needs to rest still.”

Atsumu contemplated saying yes just to experience that _speed,_ but then he thought about being that close to Sakusa and decided he’d had enough sensory overload for one day.

“Swellow will be alright.” He release him from his pokeball, letting the Pokémon stretch out his wings before leaning in to talk to him.

“Ya good for another flight, bud?” Swellow cawed loudly in affirmation, hopping closer to Atsumu and folding in his wings so his trainer could climb on. “Alright, I get it. We’re going to that cave on the other side of the lake, ya see it?” Swellow cawed again before taking off, staying low and gliding above the water. The lake was crystal clear, and he could see the glimmer of red scales as schools of Magikarp and the occasional Goldeen swam underneath them.

A shadow rushed over them, and Atsumu looked up to Sakusa’s Dragonite speeding towards the den. It was going much slower than before, for its rider’s comfort, but it was still much faster than most Pokémon.

Sakusa had already dismounted and straightened himself up when Swellow landed. He spoke softly to his Dragonite, which waved at Atsumu before taking off again into the mountains.

“He doesn’t stay in the Den?” Atsumu asked as he dismounted. He softly instructed Swellow to stretch his wings but stay in the vicinity of the lake. His Pokémon cawed his agreement and took off, climbing upwards and wheeling in lazy circles. He and Sakusa watched him for a minute before the other trainer responded.

“He prefers to stay outside by the lake, it’s more familiar to him than the Den.”

Atsumu nodded. “Dragonite usually live near the sea, right?”

“Yes,” Sakusa responded, “some say there’s an island where they all live. I caught him as a Dratini in the Safari Zone, so he’s never truly been to the ocean, but he prefers the open water.”

“I’ve never been.”

“To the sea?” Atsumu looked at Sakusa incredulously, about to inform him that despite his preference for fire types, Mossdeep City was very much an island, before noticing the slight upturn to his lips and realizing he was joking.

“To the Safari Zone. Is it cool?”

Sakusa shrugged. “I suppose. I really only went because it’s the only place to get the HM for Surf, but I found him to raise so I’m glad I went.”

The Dragon’s Den, like most caves and caverns, was dimly lit. Thankfully there was enough light streaming in from the cave entrance for them to make their way down the ladder into the main chamber without using Flash. Once inside the Den proper it was lit by torches set into the walls.

Atsumu was surprised to find that instead of pools of lava, the main cavern opened up into a giant lake with the Dragon Shrine sitting on an island in the center.

Sakusa led him to a narrow path that snaked its’ way around the lake to the back of the cavern. Here they continued down a gently sloping incline. As they walked farther into the mountain the temperature started to rise. Atsumu tugged off his hoodie as the path opened back up into a secondary cavern, but Sakusa seemed unbothered.

As they entered the area he heard the trill of Sakusa’s Altaria, and he searched wildly for her for a few moments before craning his head back and catching sight of her lounging on a ledge a few feet above them. He waved to her before following Sakusa deeper into the cavern.

In this area there were no trainers attempting to battle, unlike the region surrounding the Dragon Shrine. There were some trainers playing with their Pokémon, and they all greeted Sakusa as they passed, but it was much less populated than the main cavern.

At the back of the secondary area a small group of Charizards were lounging among the ledges. As they approached the largest one lifted its head and called out a greeting.

Sakusa stopped and turned to Atsumu. “Alright, let’s meet the troublemaker.”

Atsumu reached for his belt but hesitated. “Are ya sure it’s alright to do this in here? Char will probably try and pick a fight.”

“I would expect no less from a Charmeleon.” Sakusa laughed softly. “Don’t worry, Charizard can handle any situation.” The large Charizard let out a low, undulating rumble that Atsumu took as laughter.

Bracing himself, he released Char from his pokeball and watched as his Pokémon took in his surroundings. As soon as he noticed the Charizard lounging a few feet from him he let out a fairly large burst of flame and tried to Slash at Sakusa’s. The Charizard huffed out a laugh as the Slash made contact, before letting loose an Air Slash that sent Charmeleon flying. He landed with a thud about twenty yards away and laid there dazed.

Atsumu covered his face in embarrassment, trying to ignore the rumbling laughter of the Charizards and the amused smile on Sakusa’s face.

“Ya see my problem.”

Sakusa shrugged, moving to pet his Charizard. “Honestly, there’s nothing particularly wrong with him. All Charmeleons pick fights, and that doesn’t just stop when they evolve. They have a drive to challenge strong opponents. Either they become the strongest in the area or get beat down often enough that they learn to pick their battles.”

“I don’t necessarily mind the picking a fight thing, I can deal with that.” Atsumu frowned. “I just want him to stop setting the gym on fire every time he gets riled up. Ours isn’t built for that.”

Sakusa nodded thoughtfully. “Honestly the best thing may be for him to evolve. They usually have more control over their flame as a Charizard.”

Dear god, Osamu was going to kill him if he brought back a Charizard.

“Sounds good, Omi. So how do we do it?”

Sakusa’s plan involved mostly battling. Every morning they would either follow the Dragon Master to the gym or fly out to the Den to battle the trainers there. At night he and Sakusa would sit around his pokeblock machine in the kitchen and come up with new formulas using the berries native to Johto.

Pokeblocks, while huge in Hoenn, hadn’t quite caught on in Johto and Kanto where they preferred to use their berries as is. The pokeblock machine had been gifted to Sakusa by a visiting trainer and had been sitting unused in the corner until Atsumu arrived. The Dragon Master had been skeptical about the value of the treats – since they didn’t have pokecontests in Johto, and therefore didn’t have much use for raising their Pokémon’s cuteness or coolness – but his Altaria had taken a liking to the blocks Atsumu carried around and he loathed to deny her anything.

Char was thrilled with their new schedule, and his normally lazy Pokémon had started waking him up at first light each morning. Atsumu was usually able to grab another hour while Char lounged on the balcony with Sakusa, bothering him for head scratches and being an overall nuisance, until the gym leader had to leave for work and there nothing to distract the battle crazy Pokémon.

Espeon and Alakazam were content to spend their days in the house and seemed thrilled to have a break from the constant battling at the Mossdeep Gym. Espeon had claimed the window seat for her own and was reluctant to move from it when there was sunlight, but Alakazam liked to explore the house and the nearby area.

Unfortunately, this had led to the discovery of Sakusa’s silverware drawer, and they had come home one day to find all of the spoons bent into perfect ninety-degree angles.

“Ah, I forgot about that.” Atsumu said sheepishly, trying to calculate in his head how much a new set of spoons cost. “He likes to practice his control.”

Sakusa’s brow furrowed. “How do you forget? You must be buying silverware constantly.”

“Not really.” He shrugged. “We’ve been using plastic since he was a Kadabra.” He could see his Pokémon eyeing the rest of the silverware in the drawer. “I’ll pay for a new set, but ya should probably hold off on buying it until we leave.”

His Ninetails and Rapidash usually accompanied him wherever he went, basking in the heat of the Den or the gym while he and Char battled. His Flareon, however, had quickly become attached to Sakusa and insisted on following him to the gym every morning. Atsumu had tried to convince her to stay with him, but the other gym leader had interjected that he didn’t mind, and so Flareon left every morning trotting at Sakusa’s heels.

The Dragon Master had promised him that he would keep an eye out for her and make sure she was out of the way whenever there were battles, which is why Atsumu freaked out when he came home one day to find Sakusa treating her with a Hyper Potion.

“What the hell, Omi. Ya said ya were gonna take care of her.” He crowded in next to her to get a better look at the burn along her back leg. She mewed plaintively and tried to wiggle closer to him without disturbing the burn.

Sakusa responded calmly, “I did. I told her not to get too close to the lava pools today since they were more active than usual, but she didn’t listen and decided to take a nap near the edge of the pathway while I was battling.” Flareon had averted her gaze and was very carefully not looking at Sakusa. “The burn isn’t that bad, nothing a Hyper Potion can’t cure. But I’ll take her to see Nurse Joy first thing in the morning if it doesn’t heal.”

Atsumu took a closer look to see that Sakusa was right. While red and sore looking it wasn’t particularly deep and was already showing signs of healing as Sakusa sprayed on the Potion. Flareon mewed a him and he rolled his eyes. “Oh stop acting pathetic, yer not foolin’ anyone.” She quickly dropped the act and glared at both of them, clearly upset they weren’t coddling her.

Atsumu laughed and turned to where Espeon was lounging on her window seat. “She learned this from you, I hope ya know.”

Flareon sulked in the house for a few days, battling with Espeon for control of the window seat, before she got restless and started following Sakusa to the gym again.

A month and a half into their stay in Blackthorn, Char was making good progress and Sakusa had predicted that there was a strong chance he would evolve before they left to go back to Mossdeep.

What Atsumu was not making good progress on, however, was making Sakusa see that they were clearly destined for each other.

He recognized that coming right out an telling the Dragon Master he had already planned half their wedding – he still needed input on whether their wedding color should be a true crimson red or a more subdued maroon – would probably result in Sakusa never talking to him again. So he tried to subtly gauge the other gym leader’s interest.

That is to say, he flirted with him every chance he got. The past week he had managed to make Sakusa blush pretty consistently, but that may have just been an outward manifestation of his rage. He never responded to Atsumu’s flirting and brushed off all invitations to take a quick flight to Cianwood City for a beach day or catch the ferry over to Kanto to visit some of the other gym leaders.

“I just don’t know what to do.” Atsumu said to Hinata, the newly appointed gym leader in Vermillion City. They had met when Hinata challenged the Mossdeep City Gym on his Hoenn League challenge. Now that he had made his way through all the nearby regions, and spent a few years making his way through the farther leagues, the younger trainer had returned to his home region and settled down to take over the Vermillion City Gym from Tenma Udai. As soon as he heard Atsumu had taken a day off battling and hopped on the ferry – Sakusa had declined to come.

Hinata hummed and sifted through another trash can. He kept forgetting his override key and had to go through his own gym puzzle at least once a week.

“Sakusa _is_ really hard to read.”

“I just – I wish I could make him see that I’m serious. Like I’m not just making a joke.” He moved the papers stuffed in the trash can around half-heartedly. Maybe this was why Sakusa refused to visit, even if Hinata swore they sanitized the bins every day and used clean newspaper.

“Maybe you should bring him flowers.” He let out a shout of triumph as he located the first switch. Atsumu watched hopefully as he eagerly dug into the adjacent trash can, only to sigh as it turned out to be the wrong one and the switches reset.

“He does like flowers.” Atsumu mused, thinking about the vase kept on the kitchen table and the little garden boxes that lined the balcony.

Hinata had moved across the room to restart his search. “You should stop by Celadon then. Suga grows some awesome flowers in his gym.”

Atsumu brightened at the thought of the colorful wildflowers the grass type specialist planted. “You’re right! I have to go now if I’m going to make it there and back in time to catch the last ferry.” He rushed towards the door, beckoning Espeon away from where she’d been wrestling with Hinata’s Raichu. He called out a farewell to the other gym leader, leaving him to scour the trashcans by himself.

Sugawara had been thrilled to offer him the pick of his fields, his Meganium leading them sedately through the maze. Gym leaders typically tried to stick to Pokémon native to their regions, but exceptions were always made and standing in the calming presence of the Pokémon Atsumu could admit it fit Sugawara’s temperament perfectly. The Meganium led him straight to a patch of blooming snapdragons and he eagerly picked a bundle.

He didn’t have much time to stay and chat, but Sugawara tossed him a lemonade from the department store on his way out and made him promise to bring Sakusa along next time.

He fretted over the bouquet all along the flight back to Vermillion, through the ferry ride to Olivine City, right up until Swellow touched back down in Blackthorn.

Sakusa was curled up on the window seat when they arrived, his long legs pulled up to his chest, reading a book in the fading light. His wet hair signaled that he had recently taken a shower, and without its usual styling it fell in a halo of riotous curls around his face. He’d chosen not to change back into his usual fare of tight jeans and protective leather outerwear. Instead he’d pulled on a pair of black leggings and an oversized white sweater that reminded him of Altaria’s wings. It had a wide V-neck that dipped to reveal his sharp collar bones, and it threatened to slip off one of his shoulders as Sakusa straightened up to greet him.

He was also wearing glasses.

Sakusa had mentioned off-handedly before that he wore contacts, complaining the heat of the gym dried them out, but he’d never seen the other man without them. His glasses were oval-shaped, with delicate wire frames that were slightly oversized.

He looked softer than Atsumu had ever seen him. He didn’t realize that he was staring until Sakusa’s features started to twist into something more annoyed. He brightened though when Espeon leapt off of Atsumu’s shoulder and sprinted to join him, cuddling up in his lap next to Flareon.

Atsumu suddenly remembered the flowers, rooting around in his bag and praying that they hadn’t gotten too damaged on the way back. They were slightly smushed on one side, but the clear plastic Suga wrapped them in had protected them from the wind for the most part.

He pulled them out and presented them to Sakusa, desperately trying to remember the speech he’d prepared on the ferry and practiced while flying.

“I brought you flowers.” Eh, close enough.

Sakusa nodded slightly and took them gently from Atsumu’s grasp. He contemplated them for a moment, holding them up slightly so the Pokémon in his lap couldn’t claw at them.

“Thank you.” He finally said. “They’re lovely.” Then he offered Atsumu a slight smile, just a soft upturn of his lips, before setting them to the side and returning to his book.

Atsumu nodded and tried not to sprint up the stairs. Once he was in his bedroom he desperately rooted through his bag until he found his pokenav and quickly dialed Sugawara’s number.

“Hello?”

“Suga ya goddamn miracle worker, those flowers were amazing, I owe ya so much, anything’ ya want, ya just say the word – “.

Suga chuckled and waited until Atsumu stopped rambling to breathe. “I’m glad he liked them. Listen, I’ve got to go to dinner, but call me sometime tomorrow.”

Atsumu nodded rapidly before remembering that his video chat function had fallen victim to the heat of the Den and voiced an affirmation. Then he let Suga hang up and wandered out onto the balcony.

Altaria was already out there, dozing in the setting sun, but she perked up when he joined her and trilled in the way that meant she wanted a pet and maybe a pokeblock. He reached out to stroke her neck the way she liked and startled when she drew her wings around him, resting her head on top of his. She started up a melodic hum as he pet her, occasionally running her beak through his hair.

He’d seen her do this to Sakusa occasionally, but she seemed reluctant to approach anyone else long enough. He slowly moved so he was sitting on the chair next to the little table, but Altaria just moved with him. She was slowly lulling him to sleep, and if this was just her normal humming he didn’t want to know how powerful her Sing was.

He woke up about an hour later when Espeon climbed up onto his head and smacked his face with her tail. Altaria was still curled around him, but she was slowly withdrawing her wings and moving towards her trainer, who was standing just inside the balcony doors watching him. Sakusa was leveling him with an assessing look, meeting his gaze unflinchingly until Altaria headbutted his stomach softly. He gave her head a pat and whistled a familiar series of notes, the ones that would usually send her back to the Den to settle in for the night.

This time she didn’t repeat the notes back, instead headbutting him again and trilling a different melody. He sighed heavily, “Alright, you spoiled princess.”

He opened the doors to his room as far as they could go, and Altaria sped her way inside. Atsumu could see her settling on top the bed, turning to stare at her trainer smugly. He could hear Sakusa reprimanding her softly as he shut the doors, “Not on the bed, you know that.”

The next day Atsumu received the call he had been dreading.

The Fortree City Gym was finally ready to re-open and already had a two-week waiting list for battles, which meant that Atsumu only had about another week or so until he was due back in Mossdeep. He knew he should say goodbye and head over to the Battle Tower like he’d planned, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

When he brought it up to Char that night the Pokémon had seemed conflicted, but ultimately shook his head and looked pointedly out past the balcony towards the Den. He should have known. Char had beaten almost every Pokémon in the Den, including the weaker Charizards. But he still hadn’t had the opportunity to battle any of Sakusa’s team and Atsumu knew the little fire Pokémon wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d beaten all of them – especially the Charizard that had taken him under his wing.

He told Sakusa the next day over breakfast on the balcony, and Altaria cooed sadly from her makeshift nest in the corner. The Dragon Master had nodded silently and stared into his tea thoughtfully. After a long moment he seemed to make up his mind and addressed Atsumu, “Well I guess its time we had a proper battle, isn’t it?”

Atsumu grinned in response, already trying to plan out his strategy. During their time there he had battled Sakusa’s gym team – a handful of Dratini and a spunky Dragonair the Gym Leader was currently raising – but it was obvious they weren’t his strongest battlers. As the final Gym Leader in the Johto region Sakusa was expected to keep a fairly strong team, but his main party had earned him a spot in Kanto and Johto’s shared Elite Four before he stepped down to takeover the Blackthorn City Gym and care of the Dragon’s Den; and his main three had only gotten stronger since then. They were simply too strong for trainers taking their first League challenge, and so Sakusa only battled with them when other gym leaders or trainers that had completed at least one league challenge visited.

Charizard would be challenge enough, not to mention Dragonite, and there was Altaria to consider. He eyed her warily, and she blinked back innocently. While he had gotten some idea of Charizard and Dragonite’s capabilities during Char’s training, Altaria mostly just roosted in her various nests and bothered him for pokeblocks. On the outside she appeared to be the weakest link of Sakusa’s party, but he knew that she had actually been his first Pokémon, gifted to him as a baby Swablu when he started his Pokémon journey. It was possible that she was in his main party for sentimental reasons but knowing Sakusa she could probably take out every Pokémon in the Den with ease.

He glared harder and she let out her trilling version of a laugh.

They arranged for it to be an exhibition battle at the end of the week, on the last day of his visit. Sakusa had apparently let it slip to Komori, who had promptly informed Akaashi, who mentioned it to Bokuto, which meant that within a day the news had spread to every Gym Leader in Kanto and Johto, not to mention a few in Hoenn, and most of them had arranged to fly in to watch the match.

Atsumu spent the rest of the week discussing strategy with his team and convincing Char that battling in the days before the match would only wear him out. Char was a given, and Rapidash was determined to win against Dragonite much to his chagrin. However, Flareon didn’t particularly want to battle Sakusa and Ninetails had taken the full brunt of a Dragon Claw a few days before during a battle and still wasn’t feeling his best. So Atsumu spent the days leading up to the match bribing Espeon with treats and promises of the special poffins she liked from Sinnoh until she agreed to round out the party.

When Atsumu woke up on the day of the match it was still dark out. A quick glance at his pokenav showed that it was just after six in the morning. A thud on the balcony had woken him up, and a series of loud hoots and frantic whispering prevented him from going back to sleep.

Turns out Sakusa was already up, having expected Bokuto’s arrival on his Noctowl to come before the sun was up when the Pokémon was still alert. Atsumu had never met the Violet City Gym Leader, but he found the man entertaining if not a bit too loud for 6am. He was accompanied by Akaashi from Olivine City, whose Skarmory had been the cause of the thud, despite the heavy Pokémon’s attempts to land quietly.

Sugawara and Sawamura arrived an hour later, dragging a half-asleep Hinata with them, having caught the first ferry over from Kanto. At this point the sun was rising and Sakusa started to usher everyone out to the picnic tables they had set up by the lake and sent one of his gym trainers out to the Pokémon Center to direct people as they arrived. Ushijima from Viridian City and Tendou from Saffron arrived just as they were setting out the pastries Suga brought along from the Celadon Department Store with a basket of fresh fruit.

Oikawa’s arrival was signaled by an exuberant hydro pump from his Blastoise, and it was amusing to watch the large Pokémon get berated by Iwaizumi’s Arcanine. They were followed in by Kuroo from Goldenrod, Kenma from Ecruteak, and Yaku from Cianwood. Komori wandered in just in time for lunch, settling into the corner where Sakusa, Akaashi, and Kenma were talking quietly.

The hour before the match brought a flood of trainers Atsumu had never met, including several League Champions and Pokémon Professors. Osamu, Suna, and Aran arrived about twenty minutes before they were due to start, with Aran stumbling his way off of Osamu’s Pidgeot and loudly proclaiming to anyone within earshot how much he despised flying. Atsumu showed them to the seats he’d reserved for them – Aran next to his fellow rock type gym leader, Sawamura, with Osamu and Suna a few seats down with Komori.

The Blackthorn City Gym was too small to accommodate the sheer number of spectators that had shown up, so they had cleared the area behind the gym that butted up to the lake and drawn out a field. Atsumu eyed Sakusa warily as they took their places at either end. He was wearing the clothes he usually battled in – tight jeans and reinforced boots. But he’d replaced his usual worn brown leather jacket for a more tailored black one with a stylized dragon stitched on the back in crimson thread. It was – Atsumu knew – the jacket he’d worn as a member of the Elite Four, and if it looked good hanging on a coat rack in Sakusa’s office, it looked even better clinging to his broad shoulders.

Atsumu forced himself to focus on the battle, reaching up to his shoulder to stroke Espeon to ground himself. They’d both agreed that formalities weren’t necessary, so their Pokémon were waiting behind them instead of in their balls. He could hear Rapidash pawing at the ground excitedly and felt the heat from the little puffs of flame Char was letting out. Sakusa’s team seemed relatively calm – Altaria was basking in the sunlight while Charizard stretched out her wings. Atsumu eyed Dragonite nervously as the Pokémon settled near the water. The lake would provide an advantage to the water dragon he didn’t normally have battling in the lava filled gym, which he was sure Sakusa would take full advantage of.

Hinata had eagerly volunteered to referee and was bouncing on his toes off the side, his Raichu bounding in circles around his feet. They had agreed to let their Pokémon each face off one-on-one, with the winner being whoever won best two out of three. Hinata motioned for Sakusa to call out his first Pokémon and he whistled sharply to Dragonite.

The Pokémon darted onto the field, and he had to throw out an arm to stop Rapidash from galloping out prematurely. She tossed her head and trotted out confidently when he let her go, and he could hear his friends calling out their encouragements to her.

Atsumu would have preferred for Espeon to match up against Dragonite, but Rapidash had been insistent that she would be battling against Dragonite or she wouldn’t battle at all. His plan was to rely on her psychic attacks and pray that she was fast enough to avoid getting caught in an Aqua Jet.

Rapidash managed to land a Psycho Cut early on in the battle, clipping Dragonite’s wings and slowing him down significantly. But Sakusa was an expert tactician and counted on Atsumu’s wariness towards Dragonite’s water jet. He tired made Rapidash exhaust herself dodging the attack, and when she paused to let out a Heal Pulse she was caught head on by Dragonite’s Hyper Beam.

Atsumu recalled her to her pokeball as Dragonite slowly made his way back to Sakusa. Altaria was already gliding onto the field, and Espeon nipped his ear affectionately before leaping out. Altaria towered over the little psychic Pokémon and let out a harsh, intimidating screech, but Espeon just stared the bigger Pokémon down and twitched her tail dismissively. Atsumu could hear Osamu and Suna laughing at the precocious little thing, and Sakusa was smiling slightly across the field.

Atsumu was right about Altaria being the strongest member of Sakusa’s party. She started the battle by letting out a Sing that put half the spectators into a dead sleep and made Atsumu’s head feel fuzzy. Espeon, however, brushed it off easily. When that tactic failed Altaria let out a Perish Song that woke everybody back up and made his ears ring.

But Espeon was also the strongest member of Atsumu’s party, and she used her small size to her advantage to dodge as Altaria pelted her with dragon attacks from above. She slowly chipped away at the bigger Pokémon’s health with well placed Psybeams and Psychics and waited for her opportunity. It came when Altaria wheeled down for a Sky Attack. Sakusa, noticing the psychic energy building in the gem on her forehead and familiar with the way Espeon’s body tightened before she jumped, tried to call off the attack. But it was too late and Espeon slammed into Altaria’s body with a Zen Headbutt.

Espeon mewed quietly at his feet when she returned to him, too exhausted to climb her way up. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. “You were amazing darlin’. Ya wanna stay with me, or sit with Osamu?” Espeon looked shrewdly at his shoulders before looking pointedly in the direction of where the spectators were sitting off to the side, and he motioned for Hinata to wait while he carried her over.

Atsumu made sure she was settled in Osamu’s lap next to Umbreon before returning to his spot. As he walked away he could see the gym leaders sitting around them cooing over her and laughed as he caught a glimpse of Osamu slipping her a pokeblock. As much as his brother complained about how spoiled Espeon was he never hesitated to give her and his own Umbreon homemade treats.

When he returned to the field Char had already stepped out, blowing out large plumes of flame while he waited. Once he had settled into place again Sakusa motioned to Charizard, who let out a tremendous roar and bounded onto the field.

Char was severely outclassed. He had powered up his attacks as much as he could, but Charizard’s flying and dragon type attacks put her at a distinct advantage. Char had finally run out of steam and Charizard was wheeling up in preparation to strike the final blow when it happened.

Char started to glow, and Charizard hesitated. The light grew brighter and brighter and despite the fact that Atsumu had seen it happen a million times before he didn’t actually register what was happening until the light was almost blinding.

When it faded there were two Charizards on the battlefield and Char let out a deafening roar. Sakusa was beaming across the field, his smile the brightest Atsumu had ever seen it and he felt his heart skip a beat. Behind him he could hear Osamu complaining about the inevitable destruction of their gym and Suna laughing at him.

Char still lost. He was unused to his powerful new wings and his evolution didn’t automatically make him proficient in Air Slash or Dragon Breath or Fire Blitz. He was extremely disgruntled when he woke up, but apparently Sakusa _really loved_ seeing Pokémon unlock their full potential. He smiled through the rest of their battle, through all the handshaking and congratulations and thank-you for coming conversations, and didn’t even complain when Atsumu called him Omi. As soon as Char woke up Sakusa was all over him, scratching behind his horns and complimenting him while simultaneously giving him advice on how to improve.

It was well into the evening by the time everyone left and Char had taken his first flight over the lake to spend the night in the Den. Altaria had refused to go with them and curled up at their feet as they settled onto the balcony. Espeon had refused to leave Sakusa for the past hour and was finally sleeping contentedly in his lap.

“Hey, Omi?”

“Yes, Atsumu?”

He slowly stroked Altaria’s head, trying to work up the courage to confess. She headbutted him softly in the stomach, and _damn_ that hurt a lot more than Sakusa let on.

“I like ya.”

Sakusa tilted his head and gave the other trainer a considering look. “I know.”

Atsumu stared in disbelief. “Ya know?”

He nodded and took a long sip of his tea before responding. “Hinata told Suga - well I think Suga already knew - who told Sawamura, who told Kuroo, who told Bokuto, who told – well – everybody, but it was Komori who told me.” He shrugged. “And you were pretty obvious about it.”

Atsumu stared at him helplessly, “Why didn’t ya say anything if ya knew?”

“I was waiting for you to be up front with it.” He idly stroked Espeon’s fur. “And it was amusing to watch you flounder.”

“Don’t make fun of me.” Sakusa’s eyes snapped up to meet his. “If yer gonna reject me just do it.”

Sakusa frowned. “That’s not what I’m doing. Why would I do that?”

“Why wouldn’t ya do that?” Espeon jolted awake at Atsumu’s yell and bristled.

Sakusa ran his hand over her fur soothingly. “Because I like you too.”

Atsumu slumped back into his chair and stared blankly down at Altaria. She trilled and he got the distinct feeling she was laughing at him.

“Do ya want our wedding color to be crimson or maroon?”

Sakusa frowned. “I was thinking more of a purple or blue.”

“Well Altaria’s going to do the music.”

“Obviously. And Espeon can carry the rings.”

“ _Obviously._ ”

So apparently Sakusa Kiyoomi also based his relationships off his Pokémon’s first impressions. He didn’t jump into it quite as quickly as Atsumu, but Altaria didn’t act that way around anyone but him, and that was a pretty clear sign to Sakusa.

Osamu was extremely upset when he found out. He was even more upset when he realized he would have to cover the gym by himself when Atsumu flew to Johto on a whim to see Sakusa.

He was _furious_ when they had to remodel part of the gym because it burned down not because of Char, but because Altaria caught a head cold while she and Sakusa were visiting and couldn’t stop the fireball that came out when she sneezed.


End file.
